This invention relates to continuous mass processing systems for food and particularly relates to a mass processing machine for producing pre-cooked vegetable and the like. More particularly, it relates to a food processing machine in which the food is advanced through the machine by gravitation and rotational movement of a sloping cooking vessel during cooking.
Labor intensive processes are normally employed in producing pre-cooked food for commercial purposes; particularly, when the pre-cooked food is to be packaged in plastic bags for merchandising. In such process, the ingredients must first be cleaned, washed and cut manually prior to being cooked in a cooking pot. After the food is cooked it is then removed from the pot and is dried to a state that it may be packaged in bags for merchandising. The process is time consuming and labor intensive and it is usually unsanitary since the food must be transferred from one stage in the process to another stage manually. The process is even more problematic for vegetable since the vegetable must be throughly cleaned to rid of sand, dirt and other foreign substances usually adhered tenaciously thereto.
Some food processing machines have a cooking oven in which the food passes through the oven by a conveyor means. The food lies stationary on the conveyor means while it is being cooked. Such machines are not suitable for processing food such as vegetable in which the ingredients must be agitated and turned while it is being cooked in order that the food is cooked evenly. Moreover, the food would tend to adhere to the conveyor means rendering the latter very difficult to clean
It is a principal object of the present invention to provide a machine for mass producing pre-cooked food such as vegetable and the like.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a fully automatic pre-cooked vegetable processing machine.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an automatic pre-cooked vegetable processing machine in which the vegetable advances through the cooking vessel by gravitation.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an automatic pre-cooked vegetable processing machine in which the vegetable is tossed and turned constantly during cooking to assure even cooking and to prevent the vegetable from adhering to the inner side wall of the cooking vessel.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a pre-cooked vegetable processing machine which performs pre-cleaning and washing of the vegetable automatically.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a pre-cooked vegetable processing machine which cooled and dried the cooked vegetable to the desired condition for packaging.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a pre-cooked vegetable processing machine in which the component parts are readily accessible for cleaning.
Briefly, the automatic food processing device of the present invention comprises of a cooking vessel having a heating generally cylindrical inner body and an outer shell surrounding the inner body in a spaced manner to form a compartment between the outer surface of the inner body and the outer shell. The inner body has a cylindrical cavity operative for cooking the food therein. The cooking vessel is adjustable to disposed in a sloping angle sloping downwards from a high front end to a lower rear end. A first annular ring is formed on the outer shell and is located adjacent to the front end therein. A second annular ring is formed on the outer shell and is located adjacent to the rear end therein. An annular toothed ring is formed at the middle of the outer shell. The cooking vessel is rotatably supported by the first annular ring resting on a first rotary wheel and the second annular ring resting on a second rotary wheel. The annular toothed ring is engaged with a rotary drive gear operative for rotating the cooking vessel. The first rotary wheel, second rotary wheel and rotary drive gear are mounted on a support base which is adjustable for varying the sloping angle of the cooking vessel. A front end cap is removably disposed at the front end of the cooking vessel, and a generally funnel-shaped input hopper is mounted on the front end cap and it is operative for receiving food to be cooked into the cooking vessel. A rear end cap is removably disposed at the rear end of the cooking vessel; and an exit chute is mounted to the rear end cap and it is operative for releasing the cooked food from the cooking vessel.